TORRINGTON — The FISH shelter here uses a federal voucher program to aid homeless veterans like John Cruise.

Cruise, a Navy veteran, said he used to drink to self-medicate himself for mental illness. He became an alcoholic.

"I found a friend in alcohol, so to speak," Cruise said Saturday from the homeless shelter where he has lived for the past year. "The problem is when you become dependent on it, you can't function in life and that's pretty much how I ended up here."

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